Swearing in ceremony for CASA volunteers

14th Judicial Circuit

Comment

By Connie Duvall

Moberly Monitor-Index - Moberly, MO

By Connie Duvall

Posted Mar. 6, 2013 at 1:00 PM

By Connie Duvall
Posted Mar. 6, 2013 at 1:00 PM

Moberly, Mo.

Jennifer Wilson, 14th Judicial Circuit CASA Director, invites all to the Swearing-In Ceremony of the newly trained CASA volunteers, by Presiding Circuit Judge Scott A. Hayes, on Thursday, March 7 beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Moberly Court House. A reception will be held immediately following.

We have come a long way since the founding of the Children's Aid Society in 1853 where Charles Loring Brace controversially arranged homeless children from New York to be sent, by rail, to farm families – "kind, Christian homes in the country. By 1929, approximately 100,000 city kids had been relocated across the country, often with no sense of where they would be going, in what became known as the Orphan Train movement. That would be the precursor to the American Foster care system.

In 1977, a Seattle judge named David Soukup, who had become frustrated that the foster care system was not providing adequate representation for children in courts, organized a program called Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA. CASA is made up of trained volunteers to give children a voice in legal proceedings, and crucially to provide a holistic picture of the children's lives that would help judges make more informed decisions about cases.

Over time, CASA has grown to more than 930 branches across the country, and the role of volunteers has expanded. Local trained CASA volunteers are making a difference in the lives of local children and their families.

The Randolph County Commissioners will be attending the swearing-in ceremony and reminds the public that all are invited Thursday.

For more info contact Jennifer Wilson at Jennifer.wilson @courts.mo.gov or phone 660-263-2970.